Failing to take responsibility

Intuit TurboTax had ONE JOB.

And for many Ontario customers, it failed miserably.

According to Global News, "A growing number of TurboTax customers in Ontario are facing unexpected bills from the Canada Revenue Agency after audits showed they were given financial credits to which they weren’t entitled after using the popular tax preparation software for several years."

Some customers now owe thousands of dollars due to credits they received (but shouldn't have) and interest.

The issue is how the software calculated the Ontario Child Tax Credit, instituted during the COVID pandemic; the credit was available to households earning less than $150,000 annually.

When preparing joint tax returns, the program incorrectly defaulted to calculating child care expense credits based solely on the income of the lower-earning spouse...

... which means households earning $150,000 per year were able to claim the credit when they weren't entitled to do so.

Is this TurboTax's fault, or is it a case of user error?

TurboTax certainly has its opinion: the company has denied any responsibility for the audits affecting Ontario TurboTax customers.

In a written statement, the company stated, "We can confirm that our product is calculating the tax credit correctly. The accurate calculation of this credit relies on user inputs as per CRA requirements."

I call bullsh*t on that defence.

People who use tax preparation software aren't tax experts.

They're relying on the software to simplify the process, and know the tax rules that apply (and don't apply) for each user.

For example, when filing a JOINT return, it's completely reasonable to assume the software won't let you apply tax credits for which your total household income makes you ineligible.

Customers are trusting that the software they purchase won't let them down.

How could they be so naive?

Perhaps they put too much faith in the "guarantee" listed on the TurboTax website, which states in no uncertain terms: "We guarantee our calculations are 100 per cent accurate. If you pay a penalty because of a TurboTax calculation error, we’ll reimburse you the penalty and interest."

Yet, according to the article, "Intuit was not willing to offer anything [to affected customers] except a refund for the cost of the purchase of three years’ worth of the tax software, not penalties or interest."

Yikes.

Companies make mistakes.

But failing to take responsibility for them?

That's much, much worse.